Guardian: Iraq inquiry: The rule of law

[deminks]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/27/editorial-chilcot-iraq-inquiry-law

* The Guardian, Wednesday 27 January 2010

Yesterday's remarkable sessions at the Chilcot inquiry did not prove that the Iraq war was illegal. The inquiry is not a court and, since no judge has ever ruled on the invasion, there will always be room for dispute. But the evidence of two Foreign Office lawyers, and a series of documents released on the inquiry's website, established two crucial things. First, the prime minister and foreign secretary of the day, Tony Blair and Jack Straw, were told repeatedly and consistently that they did not have a legal basis for the invasion. Second, like a pair of barrack room lawyers, they pressed on anyway, until the attorney general was cornered days before military action began and changed his advice.

Today, Lord Goldsmith has a chance to tell the inquiry why he did this. Already, however, an astonishing abuse of process has been exposed. The prime minister decided that war was necessary. International law – like intelligence about weapons of mass destruction – had to be adapted to fit around this immovable fact. Mr Blair, of course, had the right to overrule legal advisers – and in the end he secured Lord Goldsmith's consent. Had the war and its aftermath gone well, and had weapons of mass destruction been found, few might now worry about its dubious legality. But international law was not a side issue. It was fundamental. The Iraqi regime was overthrown because of its defiance of international order, but inter­national law had to be sidelined in order to do it. One crime was committed to stop another.

The evidence of Sir Michael Wood and Elizabeth Wilmshurst, combined with the documents, tells a shocking story. In 2002, the Foreign Office and the attorney general saw little chance of establishing a legal case without one of three things: a second UN resolution (which Britain sought but did not get); an urgent need for self-defence (which – despite the WMD dossiers – did not exist); or a humanitarian crisis (which did not exist either).

(snip)

Mr Blair and Mr Straw took Britain to war knowing all legal advice – before the attorney general's final draft – was against it. They gambled. They lost. They have been found out.

[Arctic Dave]

1. As much as enjoy what happened in Louisiana, I fell this should the #1 topic.

Just my opinion.